PP imports to Ukraine decreased by 2% in January-September

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Ukraine's polypropylene (PP) imports totalled about 99,500 tonnes in January-September of this year, down 2% year on year. Only some grades of propylene copolymers imports have grown, according to MRC's DataScope.

September PP imports to Ukraine grew to 16,800 tonnes from 10,900 tonnes a month earlier, local companies increased their purchasing of propylene homopolymers (homopolymer PP) from Russia and Saudi Arabia. Overall imports of propylene polymers reached 99,500 tonnes in January-September 2021, compared to 101,200 tonnes a year earlier. The main decrease in imports accounted for homopolymer PP, while imports of some propylene copolymers increased.

The structure of PP imports by grades looked the following way over the stated period.

September imports of homopolymer PP into the Ukrainian market increased to 13,100 tonnes, while a month earlier this figure was 8,000 tonnes. Producers from Russia and Saudi Arabia increased their export volumes. Thus, overall homopolymer PP imports reached 74,500 tonnes in the first nine months of 2021, down by 2% year on year.

Last month's imports of block copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) were about 1,700 tonnes, compared to 1,200 tonnes in August, a small increase in supplies of injection moulding PP block copolymers was seen. About 9,800 tonnes of PP block copolymers were imported in the nine months of this year, compared to 10,500 tonnes a year earlier.

September imports of statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers) rose to 1,700 tonnes from 1,500 tonnes a month earlier due to stronger demand for injection moulding PP. Total PP random copolymer imports to Ukraine reached 12,600 tonnes in the first nine months of the year, compared with 11,800 tonnes year on year.

Overall imports of other propylene copolymers totalled slightly over 2,600 tonnes over the stated period.


MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Trinseo, a global materials company and manufacturer of plastics, latex binders, and synthetic rubber, and its affiliate companies in Europe, have announced a price increase for all PULSE polycarbonate (PC)/ acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) in Europe, according to the company's press release.

Effective October 1, 2021, or as existing contract terms allow, the contract and spot prices for the products stated above rose by EUR300 per metric ton.

As MRC reported earlier, Trinseo last raised its prices for all PC grades in Europe on August 1, 2021 by EUR100 per metric ton.

According to ICIS-MRC Price report, in Russia, September prices of Kazanorgsintez's PC remained at the level of August - Rb300,000/tonne FCA, including VAT. The Russian producer did not adjust its October PC prices and maintained them at the previous five months' level.

Trinseo is a global materials company and manufacturer of plastics, latex and rubber. Trinseo's technology is used by customers in industries such as home appliances, automotive, building & construction, carpet, consumer electronics, consumer goods, electrical & lighting, medical, packaging, paper & paperboard, rubber goods and tires. Formerly known as Styron, Trinseo completed its renaming process in 1Q 2015. Trinseo had approximately USD3.0 billion in net sales in 2020, with 17 manufacturing sites around the world, and approximately 2,600 employees.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- China's refining giant Sinopec Corp has jointly certified the country's first carbon-neutral crude oil cargo with shipping giant Cosco Shipping and China Eastern Airlines, reported Reuters.

The 30,000-tonne cargo was produced by Sinopec in Angola and shipped by Cosco Shipping to an east China-based Sinopec refinery for processing, Sinopec said.

To offset the carbon dioxide produced during the process from crude production to shipping to consumption by vehicles and airplanes, the three state firms bought Chinese Certified Emissions Reductions credits.

These credits that will go to investing in carbon-reducing projects such as tree planting, solar, wind and biomass power generation in China.

As MRC informed before, in August, 2021, Sinopec, the world's petrochemical major, launched the first phase of the Gulei refining complex in Zhangzhou city in China’s southeastern Fujian province. The refining complex, a 50:50 joint venture between Sinopec’s Fujian Petrochemical Company Ltd and Taiwan Xuteng Investment Company Ltd, invested 27.8 billion yuan (USD4.28 billion) in the first phase. That will result in an 800,000 tonnes per annum ethylene plant, a 600,000 tonnes per annum styrene unit and seven other downstream petrochemical units, Sinopec said.

Ethylene and propylene are the main feedstocks for the production of polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP), respectively.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,396,960 tonnes in January-July 2021, up by 7% year on year. Shipments of all grades of ethylene polymers increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 841,990 tonnes in the first seven months of 2021, up by 29% year on year. Supply of propylene homopolymers (homopolymer PP) and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased, whereas supply of statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers) subsided.

China Petrochemical Corporation (Sinopec Group) is a super-large petroleum and petrochemical enterprise group established in July 1998 on the basis of the former China Petrochemical Corporation. Sinopec Group's key business activities include the exploration and production of oil and natural gas, petrochemicals and other chemical products, oil refining.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Celanese Corporation, a global chemical and specialty materials company, has announced it will raise prices of all acetate tow product grades sold globally, as per the company's press release.

Thus, prices for the stated above products will rise by USD0.40/kg or EUR0.34/kg.

This price increase will be effective for orders shipped on or after October 18, 2021, or as contracts otherwise allow.

“Over the past 18 months, the entire industry has been confronted with a great number of challenges which structurally impact all producers. New regulatory and legislative restrictions have increased the complexity of manufacturing and portfolio requirements, leading to high utilization rates; logistics complexities including equipment and operator availability have added cost and lead-time uncertainties; and major production costs have risen sharply in response to sector demand, conversions and availability,” said Harald Bruggeman, Vice President Commercial, Acetate Tow, for Celanese. “In order to continue to provide the supply chain security that our acetate tow customers value, it is necessary to increase prices to overcome the impact of these structural changes. Celanese’s commitment to the acetate tow business ensures that we will continue to invest in the necessary assets, innovation and effective services that our valued customers rely upon.”

We remind that, as MRC reported earlier, Celanese Corporation has recently announced a force majeure (FM) in China for vinyl acetate monomer (VAM) shipments from its plant Nanjing, China. Celanese has temporarily shut down its acetic anhydride and VAM production in Nanjing to comply with recent requirements of government departments in order to achieve dual energy consumption targets in the Jiangsu Province in 2021. Thus, its VAM plan with the capacity of 300,000 mt/year was shut on 17 September, 2021, and its was expected to resume operations in late September.

According to MRC's DataScope report, June EVA imports to Russia fell by 18,32% year on year to 2,400 tonnes from 2,940 tonnes a year earlier, and overall imports of this grade of ethylene copolymer into the Russian Federation rose in January-June 2021 by 26,19% year on year to 22,020 tonnes (17,450 tonnes in the first seven months of 2020).

Celanese Corporation is a global technology leader in the production of differentiated chemistry solutions and specialty materials used in most major industries and consumer applications. Based in Dallas, Celanese employs approximately 7,700 employees worldwide and had 2020 net sales of USD5.7 billion.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Israel’s largest refining and petrochemicals group, Oil Refineries plans to invest USD1.5 billion to become a cleaner energy company as it faces a government push to shut down more polluting factories, said Hydrocarbpnprocessing.

Israel has proposed shutting a major industrial zone in the coastal city of Haifa that health officials say has been hazardous for years and turning it into an eco-friendly commercial and residential hub. The country would in turn rely more heavily on imports. No final decision has been made.

Haifa-based Oil Refineries, which controls about two-thirds of the domestic fuel market, has opposed the move. But the company's new 10-year plan seems to bring it more in line with the government's vision.

In the plan presented to investors and analysts, Oil Refineries said it will focus on green hydrogen and alternative fuels for transportation, advanced polymers that are recycled and biodegradable, and biopolymers.

At least USD400 million will be invested in "new growth engines" and the rest is for "improving and adapting existing assets, assimilating advanced technologies to create and reducing the carbon footprint," it said. Haifa, Israel’s third largest city and a key seaport, juts off the coastline into the eastern Mediterranean and has grown over the past century into a crossroads for trade and industry.

The city, in turn, has high levels of air pollution and residents suffer from an “excess” of ailments linked to air pollution such as respiratory disease, malignancies and birth defects, according to a recent report by a government panel.

The panel found Haifa has become “stagnant” with low population growth and recommended phasing out within a decade a number of factories, including those belonging to Oil Refineries, that supply much of the country’s fuel products and petrochemicals used in materials like plastics and asphalt.

Also we remind that Israel’s Oil Refineries (ORL) swung to a loss in the fourth quarter, hit by the coronavirus pandemic, and said it had saw signs of recovery so far in 2021. ORL, Israel’s largest refining and petrochemicals group, said it lost USD68 million in the October-December period compared with zero profit a year earlier. Revenue dipped 39% to USD952 million. Its adjusted refining margin was USD4.3 a barrel in the fourth quarter, compared with USD5.2 a year earlier but above Reuters’ quoted Mediterranean Ural Cracking Margin of a negative USD0.1. ORL said that since the start of 2021, refining and polymer margins have risen sharply.

Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing PE and PP.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,396,960 tonnes in January-July 2021, up by 7% year on year. Shipments of all grades of ethylene polymers increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 841,990 tonnes in the first seven months of 2021, up by 29% year on year. Supply of propylene homopolymers (homopolymer PP) and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased, whereas supply of statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers) subsided.
MRC